MOSCOW, October 21 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has delivered another humanitarian consignment to the people in Iraq who have suffered as a result of the armed conflict with the Islamic State (IS) militant group, a statement published on Russia's Foreign Ministry's website Tuesday said.
"On October 21, a Russian MES [Ministry of Emergency Situations] plane delivered to Baghdad another humanitarian consignment, weighing 37 ton, for the population, refugees and internally displaced persons who suffered as a result of the ongoing armed conflict with the militants of 'the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant' [Islamic State] in the northwest of the Republic of Iraq. The consignment comprises food, blankets, tents and mobile generators," the statement said.
The ministry noted that Russia's efforts to provide humanitarian aid to the friendly Iraq would be ongoing.
According to the statement, another consignment is currently being prepared. It will be sent to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish Autonomous Region.
The IS, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), has been fighting the Syrian government since 2012. In June 2014, the group extended its attacks to northern and western Iraq, declaring a caliphate on the territories over which it had control.
To impede the military advancement of the group, the United States launched airstrikes against the jihadists' positions in Iraq and Syria in mid-September, with some other countries such as France and the United Kingdom joining later to form an airstrike coalition to quash the militants.
Earlier in September, during a meeting with Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed Russia's readiness to support the Iraqi authorities in their struggle against the IS.
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